The Summit of the Constellation Tower, Delphi

When Elza woke again, neither the Ent nor Yohane and the others were anywhere to be seen.

Only the battle-ravaged floor stretched out before her.

Recalling the conversation just before she passed out, she understood why no one was there.

The Ent had said she would take her, but apparently Elza had been left behind.

Perhaps it was payback for ruining the lovingly cultivated garden.

As she pondered this, her left shoulder, where the Ent had pierced her, throbbed with pain.

The soldier's uniform she'd been wearing was dyed deep red, half-dried and terribly uncomfortable.

She started stripping off all her clothes while also checking the wound.

There was no one to see her, so there was no need for modesty.

When she peeled off the shirt stuck to her wound, searing pain shot through her.

Completely naked, she made her way to the broken fountain.

She used what water remained to wash all the blood from her body except around the wound.

With one hand she somehow managed to retrieve her supply bag, pulling out holy water and potion.

She bit the potion's cap off with her teeth, then poured it over the wound to clean it.

She clenched the cap between her teeth and endured the pain.

… If only she could use the healing miracle on herself, but her own divine authority couldn't heal herself.

She could make it appear to work, but there was no point in doing so now.

After cleaning away the dirt and blood, she used the potions she had brought.

She used up everything that remained.

The pain persisted, but at least the surface wound had closed enough that she could move her arm if she didn't strain it.

Getting away with only this much injury against the Ent was fortunate.

In the end, it had led to Azu's awakening, so it was a small price to pay.

When they had decided to climb this tower, she had thought this might happen, and she was truly glad it had worked out.

Coexistence of elementals within the Apostle's Vessel carried great risk and was overkill for an adventurer's lifestyle.

There had been no opportunity before, and ordinary monsters no longer posed enough danger to push Azu to that point.

She smiled wryly, remembering how the sea monster they'd encountered before had seemed promising, but the risk of being on an unstable ship was too great, so she had only expended divine authority without achieving the goal.

Then she took out the priest robes Yohane had prepared for her and put them on.

This outfit really is comfortable, she thought.

She combed her hair with the comb Yohane had given her.

It had been… a very long time since she'd seen Oscar, an old friend.

She wanted to at least look presentable.

After finishing her grooming, she looked to the center of the floor.

There, a staircase that hadn't been there before she passed out had appeared.

Unlike the previous staircases, this one was built of very ancient stone, and as Elza climbed it, the steps slowly vanished from below.

Each step up left her more winded.

That was from losing too much blood.

Using her mace as a support, she somehow managed to climb to the top.

There stood a small gate with a fountain beside it.

The water inside was clear with a faint blue tint.

A subtle scent of alcohol drifted through the air.

She gently scooped up water with her right hand and brought it to her lips.

A sweet-sour taste followed by a mellow fragrance.

This water was nectar, the drink of the gods.

He had prepared it especially for her, it seemed.

The immortal elixir, as it was also called, instantly restored her lost vitality.

Two sips brought her to full recovery.

… The only regret was that she couldn't share this with the others.

If humans drank the nectar of the gods, they would become unable to forget its taste and spend their lives seeking it again.

The effects would be milder for Azu, but given her age, there would still be negative consequences.

She wiped her lips with a handkerchief and dried her wet right hand.

Then she slowly pushed on the gate.

It was heavy.

Even with Elza's strength, it moved only a little at a time.

If the nectar hadn't been provided, she likely couldn't have opened it at all.

When there was just enough gap for her body to slip through, she squeezed inside.

A starry sky spread before her.

True to the name Constellation Tower, the summit was a realm of stars.

Occasionally she could see shooting stars crossing the sky.

After walking a bit, she found two pure white chairs placed in the back.

Seated in the far chair was a figure who could be either a girl or a boy.

"It's been a while, Oscar."

"You're late… You're going by Elza now, aren't you?"

A beautiful face smiled.

Oscar gestured gently toward the other chair.

A signal to sit and talk.

She sat in the white chair.

Oscar watched her with evident interest.

"You were much later than I expected, so I was worried. The Ent told me, but you really have no power left, do you?"

"Yes. I used most of it in that collision. The nectar helped me recover a little, though."

"You can't even heal your own wounds properly. At this rate, you might not even be able to pretend to be a priestess much longer."

"If that happens, maybe I'll worship Barbaroi instead."

"He'd probably hate that."

Oscar placed both hands on the armrests and leaned back against the chair.

"I want to talk about so many things. What happened while I was gone, how you've spent your time. But it's sad that we can't. Even so, I'm glad we could talk like this. If Sun God followers had come, I was considering collapsing the tower just to thin their numbers."

"I thought I'd never see you again. Why did you go to the trouble of pulling out a Constellation Tower?"

"Call it respect for you, the one from the beginning. But as you probably realize, the me here isn't really me. The real me is far, far away now. I set it up so that when certain conditions were met, this tower would appear along with my avatar."

As she'd thought. There was no need for something this conspicuous.

It was because Oscar was an avatar that he couldn't leave this tower.

"The condition was the Sun God's resurrection drawing near. When it reached a realistic level, the tower would manifest."

"… I see. I knew things had been active these past few years and that it was getting close."

"The vessel isn't ready yet, but the spiritual form has already descended. It's probably already started interfering with humans, dangling miracles before them. With the Church of the Creator King gone, there's no way to stop that interference. Resurrection is only a matter of time."